Your Turn: Farewell, Liberal Friend

Tue., Sep. 19 2006 at 9:35 AM

Categories: Your Turn

Pin It

Tom Robbins writes Mark Green's political obituary today, with help from the voters who maybe never quite got him:

"I agree with his politics," one told a reporter. "But what I remember about that meeting was that he seemed most interested in showing me this book he had just written. It's too bad. He's just a little too full of himself."

Anyone else got last words for candidate Green?

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: (Sent out every Thursday) Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Write Comment

Email to Friend

Print Article

Related Content

I think Robbins piece was on the mark (no pun intended) except for one thing. All of you downstate always overlook the importance of upstate support, something that Andrew Cuomo's people understood. Mark didn't make the connection with the "average" voter, especially in rural areas. His coordinators up here were not rural people for the most part, and mostly just didn't "get it". Too bad. If they had, I believe that Mark would be the one facing Pirro on Tuesday. He was in my opinion, the best candidate.
Mark Green is one of the greatest muckrakers (the only other great one I can think of is Nader) of the second half of the 20th century. Too bad he is also one of the crappiest politicians of the second half of the 20th century. I'm going to write in Mark Green in November.
He was the best Public Advocate this city has ever seen. Is that office still around?????
I'll always have love in my heart for Mark Green.
Green would have made a fantastic AG, Mayor, Senator... It's a shame that people vote superficially based on personalities rather than substance. Hell look at what that's got us in the White House. Let's hope Andrew can keep Pirro from ripping his political heart out with her sharp teeth and claws.
TOO BAD YOU AND BILL BRATTON WOULD HAVE MADE A GREAT TEAM IN 2001 AND WE WOULDNT HAVE GOTTEN STUCK WITH JEWBERG AND THE 6 YEAR HOLOCAUST HE INFLICTED ON US AFT 911 TAXES TICKETS OVERDEVELOPMENT.
As I wrote elsewhere (http://leftbehinds.blogspot.com/2006/09/mark-green-post-mortem.html) Robbins really overemphasized the likability thing. Most New Yorkers don't follow local political campaigns closely enough to have gotten a strong enough impression of Green to dislike him (though I've heard "I could never vote for someone with such a sleazy tan" enough times to be depressed at the state of our polity). My gut feeling is that two things really fouled him up: the belief that he's run and lost way too many times, and the loss of his once-loyal black base. Robbins mentioned both but didn't emphasize them enough. If I'd been Mark, I wouldn't even have run unless I had spent the last five years proving that the 2001 racism charges were false. For a decade he was the most popular white politician in the black community, and in one day in Brooklyn he lost it all. He shouldn't have run unless he had mended that relationship. What the hell was he doing the past five years that was so much more important than repairing his reputation?
I, too, agreed with many of his political positions and I expect political figures to be somewhat taken with themselves. However, Green's poisonous campaign style finished off my support for him. What a shame.